Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 303,159 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 74.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,317 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 303,159 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Heartland Express worth $1,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the second quarter worth approximately $5,584,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth $2,702,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 171,319 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 132.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 225,713 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,695,000 after purchasing an additional 128,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Heartland Express by 14.6% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 666,675 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,960,000 after purchasing an additional 84,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.67 per share, with a total value of $583,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,196,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,965,699.06. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Heartland Express Price Performance

HTLD traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $11.73. The stock had a trading volume of 174,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,217. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $927.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.00 and a beta of 0.69. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.63 and a fifty-two week high of $15.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.01 and a 200-day moving average of $11.73.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.17% and a negative return on equity of 2.84%. The business had revenue of $274.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.21 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HTLD. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group downgraded Heartland Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $15.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $10.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services.